DAHLIA
I tried moving my arms but failed since the ropes binding me was tight as hell. Skull had made sure of that. I groaned inwardly, trying to move my fingers. It was of no use, I couldn't get myself out of there. I let out an exasperated sigh. The door of the room opened and Trevor walked in. I heaved a sigh of relief when he began to untie me. "Here, use it only when it's necessary. Shoot to disarm, okay?" He said, placing a gun in my hands. "Go, find Red. I don't know where Skull is keeping him but you have to find him before it clocks twelve" Trevor said. I nodded and waited till he was gone before I sneaked out of the room. I just knew that I had to find Red as quickly as I could. I moved past some of the workers, my hood hiding my face from view.
"Wait a minute, isn't that Dahlia Malone?" One of the men said and I froze.
"It's her, alright"
Panicking, I increased my pace. One of them grabbed me from behind and I spun quickly, driving my knee into his groin. The other one took out a knife and attacked me. I grabbed his arm, twisting it backwards before swinging his body several feets away. He groaned, struggling to his feet. Annoyed, I slammed the butt of my gun into the side of his head. He slumped to the ground like a ragged doll.
Moving away quietly, I avoided the stares of other Scorpion's eye workers but I knew I had to get answers.
Just as I got to the area where no worker was in sight, I pushed one of the doors open. It was empty. It smelt of blood and death. Cringing, I shut the door only to feel the sharp end of a knife pressed to the back of my neck.
"Don't try anything stupid" The deep voice belonging to my assailant was very creepy, I shivered unconsciously.
"Drop your weapon" he said and I slowly placed my gun on the floor.
With a smirk on my face, I swept him off his feet using my legs. He landed on the floor with a loud groan.
That's right, you wanted my weapon down. There, you have it.
Slamming my boot into his face until his nose was bleeding, I pressed my knife to his throat.
"Tell me.... where are they keeping him?" I growled.
He refused to say anything so I bashed his face with my fist. "Where are they keeping him! Answer me" I said but he kept staring at me through swollen eyelids.
"Alright, then. We're going to do this the hardway" I whispered, pressing the knife harder to his throat until he was bleeding.
"Fine, fine.... I'll tell you" he said through gritted teeth.
"Go on" I said.
"He's not in this area..... Skull has him in his torture room"
My heart sank when he said that. "Where exactly is this torture room?" I said.
"In the third room on the left.......it....it has a silver d-door smeared with blood" he stammered.
"Good, thanks for your help" I said before hitting him on the head with my gun, knocking him out.
I moved forward, quickening my pace. I could see three silver doors on my left. The last door was smeared with blood. I took a deep breath, flipped on my hood and moved towards it. I pressed the side of my face to the door, listening closely. It appeared that no one was in it since all I could hear was the irregular dripping of water. I pushed the door open, blinking when I realized how dark the room was. I pushed the door wider, giving room for illumination. I gasped when I finally saw him. He was lying on the floor with both hands tied to the pillars in the room.By the looks of it, he was unconscious. He was bleeding from a wound on his head. I sighed with relief when I noticed that he wasn't hurt elsewhere. I quickly untied his wrists, gently rubbing the bruised skin.
I patted his face lightly.
"Hey, wake up" I whispered.
***
TREVOR
"So, what's the plan now?" Lee asked me.
"First of all, we need to find Red and Dahlia. We need them alive" I said.
"Okay. Do you have any idea where they might be?" Tori asked, shoving a knife into her thigh holster.
"Nope. I released Dahlia. She might've found him but we need to get going. If Skull finds out that she's escaped, things are going to get harder than it is" I whispered as we sneaked in.
"I think we should split up" Vanessa said.
"That's not a bad idea. Vanessa, go with Axel. You know this place better than I do. Be careful" I said and she nodded.
"You ready?" She asked Axel who gave a sharp nod. They walked away, holding their weapons out.
"Now it's just the three of us. Let's head to the left" I said to Tori and Lee.
"Wait, I think I know where he might be keeping Red" Lee said.
"We have to be quick" Tori said.
"Don't worry about that. I've created a big distraction that will keep Skull distracted for now" Lee said.
"Are you sure about this, Lee?" Tori asked.
"The last time Red was tortured, it happened in Skull's personal torturing room"
"He has a personal torturing room? Jeez, he's creepier than I thought" Tori said. Four of the workers were heading in our direction so, we made sure our faces stayed hidden.
Unfortunately, one of them was curious.
"Dude, what's with the hoodie?" He asked Lee who clenched his fist.
He reached out to take off Lee's hood but we were faster. Tori slammed two of them into the wall. Her mean sucker punch did not disappoint. She was totally badass. By the time she was done with them, they were lying on the floor, unconscious.
"That's my girl" Lee said, grinning at her. We got to Skull's personal room and broke in. Dahlia was kneeling beside an unconscious Red.
We rushed to her side, kneeling beside her.
"Shit, that's a nasty head wound. He's going to have a horrible concussion" Lee said, brushing Red's hair away from his face.
Red let out a groan, his eyelashes fluttering.
"Red? Can you hear me?" Lia whispered.
He opened his eyes, a dazed look in his eyes.
"Woah. I'm not dreaming, am I?" He croaked.
"You're not"
"Uurgh- my head...." He groaned, clutching his head. He stared at his bloodied finger after he'd moved his hand away from his head.
"Where am I?" He asked.
"Skull's evil lair" Tori replied.
"Right" He mumbled.
Lia and Tori helped him to his feet and he swayed a bit.
The door opened and Vanessa walked in with Axel. They were both looking flustered.
"Skull is on his way here. We have to hurry" Axel said.
"Shit. He's passing out again. I think it had to do with the fact that he's still bleeding a lot" Tori said.
"Arch, I need you to stay awake for me, please" Lia said to Arch who grunted, forcing his drooping eyelids, open. We made it down the hall and pressed ourselves to the corner when we saw Skull heading towards his torture room. Thankfully, neither he nor his men noticed us. We hid in the weapons room. Lia ripped the edge of her shirt and pressed the clothe to the wound on Red's head.
Her hands were shaking so much, she wasn't applying the right pressure.
"Here, let me" I said and she handed me the bloodied piece of clothe. The bleeding finally stopped, Red opened his eyes.
"We have to leave right now. He's obviously in no condition to fight" Vanessa said.
"It's too late for that" Red said, sitting up with a wince.
"What? What do you mean?" Axel asked.
"Today is Scorpion eye's twentieth anniversary. Skull's initial plan was to kill me in front of his men during their celebration. The exits are locked. There's no escaping this" Red replied.
Lee looked very worried as he watched Red intently.
"What do we do now?" Lia asked.
"We fight" Red said, his eyes filled with so much determination, it surprised me. "Are you sure about that? You've lost a lot of blood" Lee said.
"I'm okay" Red said, rising to his feet slowly.
****
3RD PERSON
Just as the others left the weapons room, Arch grabbed Lee's hand.
"What's wrong?" Lee asked, alarmed.
"Promise me that if things go wrong, you'll leave with the others" Arch said.
"Red-"
"Promise me. Look, no one else has to die because of me" Arch said, a fire of determination burning in his eyes.
"I promise that we're all leaving here alive, including you" Lee said.
They maintained eye contact briefly.
"We've got to go" Red said, moving ahead of Lee. He took out his knife and a long chain, half-wrapped around his hand. Lee knew that Red had switched to his killer mode. It was no joke. They clashed head on with Skull's men. The fight for freedom had begun. The copper smell of blood filled the air as they fought their way through. Red was determined to find Skull. Lia shivered when she saw the lethal look in his hazel eyes. Lee, Lia and Arch fought their way to Skull's office. As soon as they barged in, Skull was shocked. He was clearly not expecting things to work that way. He immediately ordered the six men in his room to attack. Red took out four of the men, single-handedly. Skull was the only one left at this point but then, Red did something weird. He pulled both Lee and Lia out of the room and immediately shut the door. He could hear Lia's tortured screams from outside the room. "No! Arch! What the hell are you doing?!" She screamed, pounding her fists against the door. Lee had gone pale as he struggled to open the door. He was horrified. He couldn't bear to loose his best friend. Lia was terrified. Red was still hurt and now he was putting himself in danger. He was playing right into Skull's hands. She was mad at him. She didn't want him to keep treating her like she was vulnerable.
On the other hand, Red felt relieved. Now that Lia was out of harm's way, he could face Skull squarely.
"So courageous and brave. Once again, I underestimated you, son" Skull said, his grip on his knives tightening.
"Son? Do not call me that, you monster? You are dead to me" Red said, his temper flaring.
"You brought this open yourself, boy. I trained you, I molded you. I made you the man you are today and then, you decided to turn against me" Skull spat.
"You did nothing but ruin my life. You took nearly everything from me. I've had to fight to protect the things I have left, all because of you" Red growled.
Skull looked like he'd just been slapped. He was slowly loosing it.
"I'll give you one more chance. Kill the girl and come back to me" Skull said.
Red chuckled bitterly.
"You must think that I'm stupid. I'll tell you what, you're wrong. I know everything now. You poisoned my mind with so many lies and deceits but I know the truth now"
"You're just like me, Red. Face it"
"I. Am. Nothing. Like. You" Red said through gritted teeth as they circled around each other. Two deadly predators bent on making their rival, their prey.
"I trained you. I know you so well. You can't beat me" Skull said.
"You trained me, that may be correct. But at the same time, you trained me to be worse than you. You thought you were making yourself a weapon but you were wrong. I am your downfall" Red sneered and knocked Skull to the ground.
He drove his knife into Skull's shoulder. With a yelp, Skull spun violently, driving his boots into Red's torso, sending him flying across the room.
Red rose to his feet, driving his fist into the older man's face. They exchanged several deadly punches.
Red drove his knee into Skull's face, blood squirting out of his nose. Skull rolled to the far corner of the room and rose to his feet, wiping off the blood from his nose.
He stared at his son who still looked very lethal. A wave of panic rattled him to the core.
Things looked very bleak for him. He realized he was wrong all along. Red was prepared.